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Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/paul-thiessen/the-cross-of-jesus/
The gospel of john chapter 19. The gospel of john chapter 19. I'm going to read first of all verse number 25. It says this now there stood by the cross of jesus his mother and his mother's sister marry the wife of cleophas and mary magdalene.
Now i would like to read verse 28 after this jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled. Saith i thirst. Verse 30 when jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.
That's all we're going to read this evening and we do trust that this reading along with what we have already heard will have the blessing of the lord being read publicly in this place. The words that are before me tonight and what brought me to this passage in relation to this meeting tonight are these words the cross of jesus the cross of jesus.
And so obviously the full phrase is now there stood by the cross of jesus. And so instead of inviting you to come and stand by the cross of jesus really that is what we're going to do by this message.
We are going to stand by the cross of jesus. And there are just some observations i would like to make in relation to that cross. In fact if a person is going to be saved they need to come to the cross.
There's a sunday school course. We used to sing at least i think we used to sing it because i can't remember anymore because i haven't sung it for such a long time in english at least. But the course went something like this.
There's a way back to god from the dark paths of sin. There's a door that is open and you may go in at the foot of the cross is where you begin when you come as a sinner to jesus the cross. So when we come to the cross the one of the things i would like to notice just from that very first phrase when it says now they're stood by the cross of jesus i want to say something about the place of observation the cross.
They're stood by the cross of jesus. An amazing thing when it comes to the cross the gospel writers are going to give us these distinct aspects of what took place. When we come to the gospel of matthew we are going to read that jesus stood before the governor.
And we have heard already this evening of his standing before the governor pilot. And as the lord jesus stands he is condemned that day by a man who did not want to condemn him. He is condemned by a people that wanted him out of their way.
I wonder what you think of the lord jesus tonight. And you say i'm sitting in a gospel meeting. What do you mean. You wonder what i think of the lord jesus. This man he was so concerned that he was going to do the right thing with the lord jesus.
And he heard different uh people that were dealing with him in relation to the lord jesus. Yet he condemned the lord jesus. Could it be that you're hearing of the lord jesus tonight. And yet you're going to go out the door.
And really you don't want to think of him as your savior. When we come to this point of observation we notice that in the gospel of matthew he stood before the governor. When we come to the gospel of mark we are going to learn that the lord jesus christ stood among the soldiers.
Matthew chapter 15 is going to tell us that they gathered around him. In our modern english i think this is a word that you have invented in this country. In our modern english we would call it bullying.
They stood him in the midst and around him. They began to mock him. They began to make fun of him. They gave him a crown that was thorns. They gave him a scepter that was a reed. And with that reed they smote him.
And then they said if that's not enough we will bow our knees before this man that's a king. He stood in the midst of the soldiers. When we come to the gospel of luke we will read about our lord jesus christ as he makes his way and the weight of the cross on his shoulder.
But he notices that there are some and they are very very concerned about what might happen to him. And he stops on the road and he turns around and he says weep not for me but weep for yourselves and for your children.
In the gospel of matthew he stood in the gospel of mark. He stood in the gospel of luke. He stood in the gospel of john. Now there stood by the cross of jesus. The people that were at the cross not only the place of observation.
I want to say something quickly about the people that stood at the cross. And maybe you are going to relate to some of those people that were standing around the cross that day number one. There were religious people around the cross.
And you say i'm not a religious person but i go to sunday school every sunday. I'm not a religious person but my parents they drag me to every meeting they can. I'm not a religious person but i'm at the hall every time the doors are open.
Sometimes we might just say that you're practicing something. You religiously go to those places tonight. You're sitting here to hear the word of god. There were religious people there around the cross.
There were political people there around the cross people that were trying to influence other people in relation to what was to take place in relation to laws. Some of those were religious politicians and they're standing at the cross.
There were civilians standing at the cross and as they stood around some of them heard what was going on and they smoked their breasts. They walked away. Some of them are observing and wondering how could this spectacle take place.
You're standing tonight. You're observing the cross. And what are you thinking. There were military people at the cross that day. There were soldiers that needed to fulfill the command that was given to them the people at the cross.
But you know all of those people that i have mentioned this evening. It's you. You're standing at the cross where the lord jesus died. You say well i've never been to israel. No no i'm telling you tonight as we're telling you the gospel message we're speaking of the lord jesus.
It's as though you are standing at the cross and looking at the one that died there not only the place of observation and the people that were around the cross. Can i say something about the pathway of sin that was so obvious at the cross.
We've heard this evening already that every one of us are sinners. But the pathway of sin. The reason that the lord jesus christ went to the cross of calvary was to pay the price of sin. The reason the lord jesus christ died on calvary was so that i might not have to pay my price forever in eternity.
And so the lord jesus christ he's the one that now who has shed tears because of what he was going to have to do he was going to take on sin. He was going sin was going to become his own burden he was going to be there now again when we come to take a look at these verses and he says they're stood by the cross of jesus.
And he mentions these others that are there i'm going to come to them in a moment in a moment uh further. But the principle of sin if the lord jesus christ was going to pay for sin he needed to do it by a cross death.
God demanded that sin be paid for god demanded that sin be punished. And the lord jesus christ took upon him the punishment of all of the sin of the world. And tonight you can be saved because of what the lord jesus christ did on the cross.
There's no reason for you to have to go out of here carrying your weight of sin to be bothered by a cloud of guilt because of things that you have done things that no one else knows things that you might even have hidden in your heart.
And you say no one else knows it. And so i'm okay god in heaven knows it and he's written it down. And when the lord jesus christ died on the cross of calvary god said i'm happy i'm satisfied. If someone in garneville this night would come to me for salvation i'll gladly freely give it because my son died on the cross of calvary that time ago tonight we're standing by the cross of jesus not only in relation to the principle of sin that is within us that that badness that we have that needs to be dealt with.
And so as we the pathway of sin is that sin starts and then sin continues and sin just does not stop. In fact if we were going to take tonight this little word and deal with it how the word of god deals with it we would have to say that the sinner the person who is not saved he cannot help but sin.
In fact it's the only thing he can do. It's the only thing she can do. A person that is not saved they sin. They can't help it. And the person that is without christ not only can't help but sin is a person that can't keep from sin.
They just carry on it just gets more and more and it gets bigger and bigger. And those sins are something we describe in the symptoms of today's society the society that just wants to absorb you completely so that you do not think of what god would like you to think.
God wants you to think of your soul. God wants you to think of god wants you to be his child. And the society in which we live is so busy trying to distract you. And you know they've learned how to do it by addicting you to something you want more and more.
Oh you see now you're offending me. You're calling me an addict. I wonder how many of us have these machines that they call intelligent smartphones that are more intelligent than we are. And you just start scrolling and you say i'm just going to take five minutes just five minutes and you start scrolling.
And before too long you touch one screen and that takes you to another screen that takes you to another screen. And by the way it could take you to screens that are very very harmful to you. And before you know it two hours are gone and you said five minutes.
Addiction. A person that is a sinner can't help but sin. A person that is a sinner just keeps on sinning. That's why we need salvation from god. We need the salvation of our souls. And that's why the lord jesus christ came to the cross of calvary.
But on this path we have not only its commencement not only its continuation its condemnation. Sin is condemned by god. And so when we come to read what the what is said about our lord jesus christ that god's sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh.
And the sin that condemns you the lord jesus christ said i'm willing to take that from that commendation. Sorry that that condemnation. And the lord jesus christ. We've heard in this conference already the lord jesus christ that when they were going to make him a king he withdrew and he went apart into a mountain to pray.
But when they were going to now execute a man he steps forward and says i am. We're never going to make him a king. He steps back when they were going to condemn him to death. He steps forward and says i am.
I wonder this is not something we do and something we don't want to do. How many of us would be willing to step forward to say i am the guilty one. I am the guilty one. We don't do that. We like to hide.
We like to make sure no one notices. We like to make sure that if our if in our homes we have done something we don't want our parents to see we try and hide it every way we can hide the sin keep it a secret don't tell anybody.
And yet when the lord jesus christ hears that there's sin that's to be paid for he says here am i send me. And so the price of sin that is the pathway of sin that the lord jesus christ took as he goes to the cross of calvary.
Now they're stood by the cross of jesus as we stand there. I wonder if someone sitting in this audience tonight would be able to recognize he's there. I want to very very carefully say the lord jesus died for you.
Every sinner in this world can be saved. And if that's not true why are we preaching the gospel when the lord jesus christ died on the cross. God in heaven tells us he is the propitiation for our sins are not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world.
And if i didn't believe that the lord jesus died for you and you could be saved tonight. I would never have accepted the invitation to preach the gospel here tonight. Someone can be saved in this meeting right tonight because the lord jesus christ has died on the cross and he paid that price of sin not only the principle of said that the pathway of sin that we've noticed.
Can i just say something quickly about the point of encounter. The cross is the point of encounter. I think there are some folks sitting here that were in the seed distribution in december of 2025 we were in a place called cholula puebla mexico and in the morning we took our vans at least some of us that were.
We were out early enough. I think we were out just a few minutes before eight and we got our our vans out of the parking lot. When we were coming down the elevator duncan beckett and his family was in the elevator with my wife and i and all of a sudden we felt a sudden jerk and then the elevator continued and we got out.
We got to our vans and we carried on and we we got about halfway through the town and there was a vehicle ahead of us. Brother robles was in front of us and then ahead of him was a police truck and then suddenly that police truck he just turned sideways and blocked the rest of the street and we saw that there were people all coming out of the buildings and we went around and we carried on to where we were having the uh the morning session with all of the seed sowers and the others weren't coming and they weren't coming and they weren't coming.
And then we got a message saying there'd been an earthquake and everyone had to leave the buildings. And so those that were still at the hotel good thing nobody left in the elevator. But those that were still there they had to come out and they had to go to a certain place in the country of mexico.
In the middle of almost every parking lot there is a green square that is probably four feet square painted green with white lines going to the middle. And in the middle there is a point sometimes colored white sometimes colored red.
And that is called the point of encounter. And when there is an occasion an emergency all of the people must leave the the factory. They must leave the workplace. They must leave and go to that point of encounter to be able to do the roll call to see if there's anyone still in the building.
The point of encounter. I want to tell you tonight that the cross of the lord jesus is the point of encounter. If you're going to be saved you need to get to the cross the place where the lord jesus died.
Oh you say i don't have money to go to israel. I didn't tell you to go to israel. I said go to the. It's not something that's physical but it's something that's very real to get to the point of encounter with the lord jesus.
Let me tell you the wooden pole doesn't save. The lord jesus saves anything that any one of us would do does not save. The lord jesus saves. At that cross he paid the price that we might be saved. I wonder tonight is there a man or a woman a boy or a girl.
And you would come to the point of encounter the place where the lord jesus died. You could be saved tonight. It just would be to accept what the lord jesus has done. It just would believe what god has said.
It just would be to receive a gift that is offered that is salvation. And tonight you don't have to be worried about to believe. You just need to receive what god is already offering to you. It is a matter of just doing what god anticipates.
God anticipates that at this conference there's someone that could trust the same in this meeting. The point of encounter. Can i just say something quickly in relation to that point of encounter. That point of encounter with the lord jesus.
First of all he encountered the devil. Hebrews chapter 2 and verse number 14. The children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took part of the same that he that he might destroy him that hath the power of death that is the devil.
By death he was able to conquer death. And the lord jesus in that point of encounter he encountered the devil. And he withdrew from him all the armament that he had death itself. The lord jesus took it from him.
So that it is not necessary that you die forever because the lord jesus he conquered satan at the cross of calvary. I want to say something quickly about the point of encounter. The lord jesus christ not only encountered the devil there he encountered his father.
Marvelous words that the lord jesus said from the cross. And i'm coming to this cry in a moment. But i just want to go beyond it for a minute because i'm right now at my point of encounter when the lord jesus christ had finished all the work you know what he said father into thy hands i commend my spirit.
And the father was right there. And the father received his spirit because he had completed the work that was done. And there is nothing. I mean absolutely nothing that you or i can do because it's all done.
And there was that encounter. And because the lord jesus christ finished that work tonight. That can be the point of encounter between a sinner and the savior because the lord jesus satisfied god forever.
That point of encounter quickly. I just want to say something about the the precise timing of the events right here in john's gospel it says. The first verse we read says. Now verse 28 begins with after verse 30 begins with when the precise timing that john uses in relation to what took place at the cross now there stood by the cross of jesus.
He mentions these women that stand there but specifically his mother his mother who had believed in him. And after verse number 24 from the other gospel records we would understand that there takes place what we call the darkness.
And in that space of time just before the darkness john takes mary to his home and the darkness takes place. A darkness like no other darkness. I'm going to move quickly just to get down to where i want to go.
The darkness of calvary. The lord jesus christ bore it so that you do not have to be in the darkness forever the darkness of calvary. And that's why it says verse 28. After this after what. After the darkness.
After the darkness jesus knowing that all things were accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled now he says i thirst verse 30. When when what. When he had finished the work. Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished.
And because it's finished tonight could be the when of salvation for someone here. Could you trust the lord jesus christ tonight. Could you just understand. It's my sin that put him on the cross that needed the punishment.
And the lord jesus christ took all that judgment for sin upon himself to save a soul here tonight and he's waiting. And the when could be a moment of salvation right here at the foot of the cross. When it comes to dealing with the cross issues it is a truth that has to do with eternity with forever.
And those that trust the lord jesus christ receive eternal life. They're gods forever. It was early on a monday morning when i received a phone call from a brother in an assembly where we had lived for a good number of years he was broken and he began to tell me this is what had happened after the gospel meeting on the lord's day evening the meeting was over and people just filed out like they normally do and they lived about a block and a half from the hall and they walked home.
And then 16 year old gabriel decided that he would like to have a coke from the store. He walked three quarters of a block down to the highway crossed the highway and the third door was a very small store on that highway in mexico.
He bought his coke and he sat down right beside a concrete post where they hung the electric wires along the top. He'd heard the gospel and he was just going to do that. After the meeting coming from town was a young man who had been drinking and that young man noticed in his rear view mirror that there were red and blue lights flashing and the man that had been drinking assumed that they were after him and so he sped up and he wanted to turn into the town but because he wasn't well aware of what he was doing he missed the turn and he actually missed the post and he smashed right into the store and took gabriel with him.
His parents heard the crash three quarters of a block from the hall sorry from the from the highway. And they came running and saw their 16 year old boy laying on the sidewalk in his broken body. And they did what any parent any saved parent in that situation would do.
They began to whisper gospel verses in his ear and they began to tell him that it was okay to get saved now. And they just began to quote verse after verse after verse. And then the ambulance came and he took him to the little town.
And in the little town the doctors said this is far too much for us we can't take it. You've got to take that boy to guadalajara. And so just about 10 o 'clock at night they put him in the ambulance to take him to guadalajara and paying the second toll booth as they were passing the road approximately 45 minutes from the city of guadalajara.
Gabriel died. This is the next morning and the father's calling me to say will you come tonight and will you preach at the wake. We made arrangements to go to the hall in the little village where they were going to bring the body.
We were there well before the body was they brought the body and one of the saddest occasions in life a 16 year old boy and he wasn't can i say doing anything bad in the sense that he wasn't the one that had been drinking.
He wasn't the one that was driving. He wasn't the one that had affected this situation anyway except he was sitting on the sidewalk drinking a coca-cola. Please let me tell you don't think that because you're not the one doing the bad things that something might not happen to you.
Please don't think that. The next day we had the funeral. Several months later his mother came to me at the door after the gospel meeting and she said do you remember the conference you preached at in november of last year.
And i said i do. She said do you remember what you spoke on. And i said i do because at that conference i had just gotten up to speak and the electric power cut to that area of the city no emergency lights.
It was dark. And i just said to the people you don't need light to listen and i'll just continue preaching. But what i remember is that night as those people sat in the dark the subject of my message had been the darkness of calvary what the lord jesus christ suffered.
And then his mother told me this it's just we found gabriel's bible and we opened the fly leaf of his bible and he had written down there after the meeting. I got saved in the meeting tonight at the conference when i heard about the darkness i told that mother you take that as consolation from the lord.
Will someone at the garnevillo conference be saved now to trust the lord jesus for eternal salvation it can be now it could be. Now stand by the cross of jesus tonight. Observe what he did make it yours.
Take it in receive the gift. Believe his word be saved tonight. Let's pray.